A car hit and killed a construction worker, Thursday, October 12, 2011. The crash happened at about 12:30 p.m. in a construction zone at northbound Interstate 35W and McAndrews Road, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. (Pioneer Press: Jean Pieri)

Bent over a manhole, two men worked on electrical lines buried along the freeway Thursday in Burnsville. Suddenly, a car lost control and veered off the road, hitting and killing them.

The crash was a too common reminder of the dangers workers in construction zones risk everyday along Minnesota’s highways, officials say.

Craig D. Carlson, 47, of Ramsey and Ronald J. Rajkowski, 44, of St. Joseph, Minn., were killed as they worked along Interstate 35W, the Minnesota State Patrol said.

The driver, Kirk E. Deamos, 21, of Raymore, Mo., was in Minnesota visiting his girlfriend. He was not arrested.

Crashes involving construction workers in Minnesota continued climbing last year, though the number of fatal crashes dropped slightly from 2009, the state Department of Transportation reported. But in 2011, both construction crashes and fatalities have declined. When you travel down the road and you encounter a work zone, you’re encountering a new environment,” said Kevin Gutknecht, MnDOT spokesman. “It requires that folks slow down and pay attention.”

On Sept. 29, a driver fled after crashing into a work zone and injuring two construction workers on Interstate 94 94 near Minnesota 280 in St. Paul, authorities reported.

Those workers and two passengers suffered minor injuries. As of Thursday, it was unclear if authorities had arrested a suspect in the crash.

So far this year, there have been 709 crashes and six fatalities involving construction workers, MnDOT reported.

The men who were killed Thursday worked for Egan Co. of Brooklyn Park, said Lt. Eric Roeske, spokesman for the State Patrol.

The company employs more than 700 people and specializes in mechanical, electrical and control system construction. In a statement about the crash, the company said:

“We are deeply saddened to report that two employees of Egan Co. were killed. … Our thoughts are with their families during this difficult time.”

The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate the crash to determine if the company violated regulations, said James Honerman, spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.

In June 2010, OSHA investigated Egan for a worker accident, according to the inspection report. The company was fined $11,200 for two “serious” violations that involved cutting and welding regulations, Honerman said. That case remains open.

Another OSHA investigation in February 2010 found no violations, according to that report. But in April 2008, the company was fined $350 after OSHA found one “initial” violation, the report said. Both cases are now closed.

The company did not comment on the OSHA investigations.

Thursday’s fatal crash happened about 12:30 p.m. in a construction zone on the right northbound side of I-35W at McAndrews Road, Roeske said. Investigators said they believe Deamos struck the men after losing control of his 3000GT Mitsubishi and driving off the road.

Wanda Akers, Deamos’ grandmother, said he recently bought the car and was planning to drive to Minnesota to visit his girlfriend, who attends college locally. She declined to comment further.

On a Facebook account apparently registered to Deamos, there was this posting Tuesday: “Today is a good day! I am now the proud owner of a red 3000gt that is basically faster than a rocket … Ready to really test it out on the highway to Minnesota Thursday!!! So pumped! :)”

According to the State Patrol, Deamos’ car was in the left lane of northbound I-35W when it slowed for the construction.

A preliminary report of the accident released Thursday night said the “driver felt he was too close to the construction wall, braked and steered right.”

But the car turned harder than the driver intended, the report said, and he turned left to compensate, then right again. The car then spun out of control into the ditch on the right side of the highway.

Authorities were not investigating drugs and alcohol as factors in the crash, Roeske said. Police said Deamos cooperated with investigators and wasn’t asked to submit a blood-alcohol test.

The crash happened while workers were installing a MnPASS Express Lane along the freeway, Roeske said.

Carlson died at the scene. Paramedics took Rajkowski to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he died at 4:24 p.m., Roeske said.

Carlson worked for Egan for 27 years, his brother Chris Carlson said.

“We were told they were side by side bent over in a manhole, a few feet off the shoulder pulling some wires right along the side of the road when this car lost control,” Chris Carlson said. “It all happened so fast, they say. He was killed instantly.”

As a project manager, Craig Carlson rarely worked in the field.

“But this project was behind, so they wanted him out there,” his brother said.

Craig Carlson was married and had a son and daughter in their midteens, his brother said.

“Too young. He was too young,” he said. “Until I know more details, I don’t want to say more.”

A woman who answered the phone at Rajkowski’s home in St. Joseph said his wife wasn’t ready to comment about the incident.

Rajkowski had two young children.

Factors such as inattentive driving, speed and the large number of construction sites play a part in work zone crashes, Gutknecht said. Since 2001, several state agencies have participated in the Toward Zero Deaths campaign. Its mission is to reduce the number of traffic deaths by engineering, enforcement, education and emergency medical resources.

“Workers expect to go home at night. Motorists are a big part of the solution,” Gutknecht said.

Maricella Miranda can be reached at 651-228-5421. Staff writers Tad Vezner and Jacob Piekarski contributed to this report.

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